Stamp dispenser



May 8, 1962 B. P. SCHUMACHER ETAL 3,033,738

. STAMP DISPENSER Filed Feb. 18, 1960 2 SheebS-Sheet l 9; i* l?) FI E. j

.UWM Milli mi I' i 2027 /7 2 INVENTORS 30d 25 35mm/Po i? Saranac/lek BYRoBenr 4. Fame@ JAMES K. Kas/sm@ Rav 7 @has May 8, 1962 B. P. scHuMAcHER ETAL 3,033,738

STAMP DISPENSER I Filed Feb. 18, 1960 A v 2 sheets-sheet 2 PIE'. S

73 s sa 8o F 2' CEI E IN V EN TORS -so a Benumeo ESCI/Maryam Janes IY. Kus/:14K

Unite This invention relates to a simplified structure of a stamp dispenser and axer for use in connection with postage stamps and the like.

It is an object of this invention to provide such a dispenser in a compact arrangement within a housing and having relatively few interengaging and movable parts.

It is another object of this invention to provide means for engaging the perforations between the stamps for positively advancing said stamps certain regular intervals of distance.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a stamp dispenser having a moistening means, and means for affixing a stamp on a desired object in a desired position.

It is still another object of this invention to dispense stamps and be adapted to aiiix the same to various types of cartons and parcels, as well as to envelopes.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully set forth in the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. l is a plan View of applicants device;

FIG. 2 is a view in end elevation with some portions shown in dotted line;

FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation with some portions shown in dotted line;

FIG. 4 is a view on an enlarged scale in central vertical section taken on lines 4 4 of FIGS. l and 2, as in-` dicated by the arrows, and showing the operating mechanism of applicants device;

FIG. 5 is a view in horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4, as indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 4, as indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of a portion of applicants device in vertical section on an enlarged scale showing an operating portion thereof in a different position from what is shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view of an object showing a stamp placed thereon in connection with the operation of applicants device.

Referring to the drawings, applicants device is here shown comprising a housing 10 indicated as being substantially rectangular in plan and having upstanding side walls 12 and 13, an upwardly inclined rear end wall 14, and a vertical front end wall 15. A at plate-like bottom 16 having short upstanding side walls 17 is hinged at its rear end portion by pins or rivets 18 to the adjacent portions of the side walls 12 and 13. Formed within said housing 10 is a chamber 19.

Referring to FIG. 4, carried at the bottom and rear end portion of said housing and secured between the side walls thereof is an irregularly formed member 20 having an upstanding rear or back portion 21 having a curved recessed portion 22 at the rear upward outer corner thereof and having a partial circular recessed portion 23 adapted to accommodate a cylindrical member .therein transversely of said housing and having a lower forward recessed concavely curved portion 25 with an upstanding common wall portion 27 therebetween having arcuate sides in vertical section forming side portions respectively of said recessed portions 23 and 25. Extending forwardarent Patented May 8, 1962 "ice by a continuation of the curvature of said recessed portion V2:5.

Secured to'said shaft 34 adjacent either end thereof and in spaced relation to one another are rollers 38 and 39. In the embodiment of the invention here disclosed the circumference of each of said rollers will be equivalent to the linear measurement of four postage stamps. jecting outwardly of the peripheries of said rollers are transversely disposed sets of prongs 41 and 42 circumferentially spaced about said rollers adapted to engage the perforations 30b between stamps 30a of said roll of stamps 30.

In connection with said rollers A30 and 39, means for rotating said shaft 34 are indicated, which in the present embodiment of the applicants invention are shown as comprising a toothed gear 45 journaled centrally on said shaft 34 between said rollers 38 and 39. Chambers 47 are formed within said gear 45 oppositely of said shaft 34 to house dogs 49 and 50 radially disposed in said chambers in diametrically opposed positions. Said' dogs are pivoted on pins' '51 and 52, disposed transversely into said gear 34 and extending through said chamber 47. Said dogs are held in operating position by springs 53 and 54 as indicated in FIG. 4, in a slightly tangential relation with respect to the circumference of said shaft 34- whereby when said gear 45 is rotated in a clockwise direction, said dogs 49 and 50 frictionally engage the surface of said shaft'to rotate said shaft. When said gear 45 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, said dogs slip freely about Vsaid shaft and do not rotate the same.

Adapted to mesh with said gear 45 is a smaller toothed gear 56 mounted on a shaft 57 journaled between said sides 12` and 13.

Positioned above and below said gear "56 and formingl an end enclosure for said chamber 19 are vertically' Saidl spaced irregularly shaped members 60 and 61. members 60 and 61 extend transversely between said walls 12 and 13 and will be suitably secured thereto. Said members have right-angled outer sides with their adjacent vertical sides forming an end enclosure 63, and the remote sides being horizontally disposed to form top and bottom portions 64 and 65 respectively. lSaid members have inner concavely curved portions which form a housing partially about said gear 56 and in combination' with said curved portion 25 form a partial enclosure about said gear 45. Said members 60 and 61 are spaced apart just sufficiently vertically to permit said gear 56 to extend its toothed portion outwardly of a vertical extension of the adjacent sides 63 of said members 60 and 61. Saidv member 61 will have its bottom side 65 spaced above saidextended portion 26 just sufficiently to form a slot 64 for the passage of stamps therebetween.

- Seated in the curvature 25 and extending transversely:

thereof to barely engage the adjacent surfaces of said rollers `30 and 39 is a cushion 66 formed of a sponge' like resilient material adapted to hold the stamps 30a' in pressing Yengagement with said rollers; Said prongs 41 will be of a length barely suflicientto extend into the per-` forated portion between each of said stamps 30a and will stamps.

Pro-

Spaced forwardly of the side walls 63 of said members 60 and 61 is said end wall 15 of said housing 10, and formed therebetween is a chamberY 67 forming a vertical guide for a-plunger 69. Said plunger is here shown having a base portion 70k substantially parallelepiped in form having an Voffset upwardly extending portion 71 somewhat triangularinl longitudinal vertical section having shoulders '72 formed at either side ythereof and a pin 73 disposed transversely through any upper portion thereof and eX- tending outwardly at either end thereof. lnY the side of said bottom portion 70 adjacent said gear 5.6,are transversely extending horizontally disposed teeth forming a rack 70d for engagement with said gear 56 to rotate the same a's said bottom portion is 'recipro'cated vertically. Said rack will b e of a lengthl and said gear 56 will be of a size whereby a full downward stroke of said bottom portion `7l) and said rack 70a will rotate' said gear 56 sufliciently to move said stamps 30a the length of one stamp or a one-fourth rotation of said gear 45 which will move one stamp into position to be affixed to a surface, such as of lali envelope, as Will hereinafter be explained. The lower inner corner 70h' of said base portion 70 and the upper outer corner 26a of the extended portion 26` are formed as cutting edges and are spaced to barely clear one another whensaid plunger descends and cooperate to break o rcut a stamp free along the perforated or tear lines' between said stamps. Y

u Mounted 'n said housing 10 is a pivoted cover 75 having' a curved top portion 76, depending sides 77, an inwardly curvedV depending rear end portion 78, and a straight depending front end portion 79. Said front end portion and said sides are adapted to rest upon end a'nd sides 12 and 13. VSaid depending rear end has a pin' 80 extending therethrough and journaled into the adjacent portionsy of sides 12 and 13. A spring 82 is secured to the underside of said top 75 adjacent its rear end portion, as indicated in FIG. 4, and having a downward'vco'mpoundly curved portion bearing against the top of portionv 21V for normally Vurging said cover intoV a raised open' position. v n

kPlates 84` are mounted at either inner side of said cover 75 in alignment with said pin'73 and having aligned horizontally' extending s lots 85 therein respectively into which are extendedthe `free ends of said pin 73. Hence said plunger 69 is normally Yheld in its upper or raised position with a stop member 86 being formed as a small plate secured by screw 87 to the upper portion of member 60' and'extending forwardly to engage the adjacent shoulder 72 of said plunger to limit its upward movement.

Secured to the outer side of said end wall 15, as by a'rsuitableY adhesive, is a receptacle 90 here shown to be substantially' parallelepiped in form having an upstandi'ng neck-like opening 91having a stopper 92 seated thereon. Said receptacle will be Yiille'd with water 93.

Inthe specific ner'nbodinnent of said receptacle here shown,;a right-'angled recess is formed by side portions 94 and 95 at the lower inner corner thereof extending theV full width ofsaid receptacle with an aperture 96 formed adjacent thebottom of saidrecessed portion.

Secured within saidV recessed portion is a porous Wetting member' 97, such as asponge, adapted to have water leak slowly therethrough to presenta moistenedlower surface; Said member 97 will be secured tightly against said aperture 97 and will extend below said receptacle to a point just below the bottom of said end wall 15 whereby amember99'hereindicating an envelope may beinsertedalong the' bottom 17 having its upper surface slidin'gly engageftlie 'bottom of said sponge 97 and be moved inwrdly'to'a position below said plunger 69.

Inio'perato'n, theYK shaft 33 will be removed by beingV pushed` endwise throughthe housing 10 for removal df'the spindle 28 on which will be placed'a roll of stamps 30' frmefdif'a strip of` stamps 30a havingV pertorations.`

307;* therebetween. Said roll of stamps and spindle 28 will be replaced in the housing 10.V A free end of said roll of stamps be positioned between the rollers 38 and 39 and the resilient cushion member 66. Said stamps will be so positioned as to have the prongs 41 and 42 engage the rst line of perforation which will be between the first and second stamp. The cover member 75 will normally be held in a raised position by action of the spring 82 whereby the plunger 69 is normally held in a raised operating position.

The cover 75 will be urged downwardly against the presure of spring 82 by the hand of the operator which will move the plunger 69 downwardly, and the rack 76a will engage androtate gear 56 which in turn will rotate y in a clockwise direction the gear 45 and it in turn will rotate shaft 37 andV rollers 38 and 39 to advance the stamps forwardly. The prongs 41 and 42 are spaced to engage the strip of stamps advanced from the roll of stamps 30 at the lines of perforation between the stamps. A full downward movement of the plunger 69 will cause by the means indicated a stamp to advance its own length. The rollers 38 and 39 are not moved whenthe plunger 69 Vreturns to its raised starting position, as is explained in the above description.

An envelope to have a stamp aiixed thereon will be moved forwardly along the top surface of the base 17 to engage the bottom of the wetting member 97 which will moisten sutliciently the area on the top surface of the envelope onto which will be aiiixed a postage stamp. The inserted portion of said envelope will be in direct alignment with the line of travel of said plunger 69. When the stampsy have been advanced to the point of the front wall 63 then from this time on each downward movement of the cover 75 will advance on stamp as onto said envelope, with said plunger at the ends of its stroke having its corner 7Gb cooperate with the corner 26a to cause a separation of the stamp advanced onto the envelope from the one immediately therebehind along the line of perforation therebetween. The iinal downward movement of the plunger will provide suicient pressure to aix the stamp onto the envelope.

The wetting member 97 will be of suicientporosity to have water 93 leak therethrough in just sufficient amount towet the surface, as of an envelope, for having a stamp securely aflixed thereto.

Thus it is seen that we have provided a stamp dispensing A vand allixing device having but very few movable parts and adapted for rather easy construction and for simple and elicientV operation.

'It will of course be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, `arrangement and pro- 1 portions of 4the parts, without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which, generally stated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, inthe parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A postage stamp dispenser land aixer having in combination, a housing, a pair of partially cylindrical recessed portions adjacent the bottom of said housing longitudinally spaced therein and extending transversely thereof, yan upstanding Itransverse common wall between said recessed portions having the sides thereof form portions of the adjacent walls of said recessed portions, a spindle journaled in the rearward of said yrecessed portions, a rolled strip of stamps carried on said spindle, a stamp feeding member comprising transversely spaced rollers journaled in the other of said recessed portions, a resilient member of sheet material facing the side o f said upstanding wall adjacent said stamp feeding member and having pressing engagement with the adjacent peripheral portions of each of said rollers with the strip of said stamps extending and being frictionally engaged therebetween, a gear secured between said rollers, a second gear journaled in said housing having engagement with said first gear, a rack engaging said second gear, said rack comprising a plunger for vertical reciprocal movement in said housing, a handle formed of a longitudinally extending cover portion of said housing and being pivoted -to said housing at its rear end, a spring carried by said cover portion engaging said housing to normally urge said cover portion to an upraised position and said plunger being pivoted to the free front end portion of said cover portion.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, spaced circumferential projections on said rollers for engaging the perforations between adjacent of said stamps, and a shaft journaled in said housing carrying said rollers and said gear, a chamber in said gear at either side of said shaft,

a pair of dogs respectively pivotally disposed in said charnbers to be in diametrically opposed positions relative to said shaft, said dogs being respectively inclined somewhat to have a Atangential relation to said shaft whereby when said shaft rotates in one direction said dogs are urged into frictional engagement with said shaft and when rotated in the other direction said shaft rotates -freely between said dogs and springs disposed in said chambers vfor urging said dogs into engagement with said shaft when 10 said shaft is rotated in said first mentioned direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 993,732 Storck May 30, 1911 1,535,598 Gengler Apr. 28, 1925 2,441,821 Kendall May 18, 1948 

1. A POSTAGE STAMP DISPENSER AND AFFIXER HAVING IN COMBINATION, A HHOUSING, A PAIR OF PARTIALLY CYKINDRICAL RECESSED PORTIONS ADJACENT THE BOTTOM OF SAID HOUSING LONGITUDINALLY SPACED THEREIN AND EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY THEREOF, AN UPSTANDINNG TRANSVERS COMMON WALL BETWEEN SAID RECESSED PORTIONS HAVING THE SIDES THEREOF FORM PORTIONS OF THE ADJACENT WALLS OF SAID RECESSED PORTIONS, A SPINDLE JOURNALED IN THE REWARED OF SAID RECESSED PORTIONS, A ROLLED STRIP OF STAMPS CARRIED ON SAID SPINDLE, A STAMP FEEDINNG MEMBER COMPRISING TRANSVERSELY SPACED ROLLERS JOURNALED IN THE OTHER OF SAID RECESS PORTIONS , A RESILIENT MEMBER OF SHEET MATERIAL FACINNG THE SIDE OF SAID UPSTANDING WALL ADJACENT SAID STAMP FEEDING MEMBER AND HAVING PRESSING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ADJACENY PERIPHERAL PORTIONS OF EACH OF SAID ROLLERS WITH THE STRIP OF SAID STAMPS EXTENDING AND BEING FRICTIONALLY ENGAGED THEREBETWEEN, A GEAR SECURED BETWEEN SAID ROLLERS, A SECOND GEAR JOURNALED IN SAID HOUSING HAVING ENGAGED WITH SAID FIRST GEAR, A RACK ENGAGING SAID SECOND GEAR, SAID RACK COMPRISING A PLUNGER FOR VERTICAL RECIPROCAL MOVEMENT IN SAID HOUSING, A HANDLE FORMED OF A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING COVER PORTION OF SAID HOUSING AND BBEING PIVOTED TO SAID HOUSINNG AT ITS REAR END, A SPRING CARRIED BY SAID COVER PORTION ENGAGING SAID HOUSING TO NORMALLY URGE SAID COVER PORTION TO AN UPRISED POSITIONN ANS SAID PLUNGER BEING PIVOTED TO THE FREE FRONT END PORTION OF SAID COVER PORTION. 